Title Page, Copyright, Dedication

CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE: Introduction: Presidential Nominating Conventions in the Media Age

It was about 6 a.m. on September 1, 2004, and I was on the tenth floor of
Madison Square Garden in New York City—the epicenter of the American
media universe for the week—waiting to begin an interview with a morning
network news program about the Republican National Convention (RNC)
that had convened its proceedings there the previous evening. The glass booth,
one of dozens similarly transformed...

Few features of the process of presidential selection in the United States
have changed as dramatically as the national presidential nominating conventions.
Once the setting for passionate candidate and policy contests between
party factions, critics assert that contemporary conventions are primarily
ceremonial: giant...

CHAPTER THREE: Conventions and Campaign Dynamics

The party conventions remain among the most important events of
presidential campaigns. Though their function in some respects has changed
dramatically, the conventions continue to provide an occasion for launching
a party’s general-election campaign and for introducing—or reintroducing—
the party’s candidates to the electorate. Parties invest millions of dollars and
enormous planning effort...

CHAPTER FOUR: Party Profiles: National Convention Delegates

National party conventions are fast becoming the Rodney Dangerfields of U.S. political institutions: they don’t get no respect. After all, these
quadrennial national gatherings are no longer deliberative bodies that make
independent decisions of obvious importance, such as choosing presidential
nominees. Th e development of the presidential primary system and the resulting
candidate-centered and...

CHAPTER FIVE: The Utility of Party Conventions in an Era of Low Visibility and Campaign Finance Reform

Over time, the process by which Americans choose their chief executive
has changed dramatically. Th e process has progressed from individuals seeking
the presidency to party elites choosing their standard bearers to a democratization
of the process through which the mass memberships of political parties
select nominees for the general election. Coupled with other changes in the
political system (i.e., the...

To some extent, the aim of this volume is to assess if national presidential
nominating conventions still matter, and, if so, how and why? Th is chapter
examines the impact of conventions on the level of political information about
presidential campaigns disseminated by mass media channels. Previous studies
have presented evidence that conventions do in fact increase the amount of
media coverage of political campaigns...

CHAPTER SEVEN: Conventions for the Unconventional: Minor Party Conventions, 1992–2004

Party conventions are usually thought to serve a number of important
functions. Officially, they choose candidates, determine platforms, set the
party’s rules, and elect the officers who will govern the party until its next convention.
Unofficial functions are at least as important. Conventions can help
bring contending factions together, inspire party activists to work hard on the
campaign, and provide...

On the surface, the idea that presidential nominating conventions are
prone to crises seems ludicrous. Because of the constant media coverage with
which this book is concerned, presidential nominating conventions have become
increasingly scripted to avoid any hint of dissent during the parties’ media
showcases. Given this backdrop, conventions should be the last place we
observe any disruption...

CHAPTER NINE: Rewiring the Conventions (Again): The Internet and Innovation in Politics and Media

The age of online politicking has arrived. After ten years of public use,
the Internet has achieved the status of a major medium for public affairs.
In the run-up to the 2004 elections, approximately 75 million adult Americans
turned to the Internet to get political news and information, discuss candidates
and debate issues in e-mails, and participate directly in the political process
by volunteering...

CHAPTER TEN: Losing Control? The Rise of Cable News and Its Effect on Party Convention Coverage

Before the late 1960s, party leaders dominated the nomination process.
They controlled party delegates and brokered the deals that determined the
party’s presidential nominee. In 1968, however, Democratic Party leaders were
unable to control their convention in Chicago. Anti–Vietnam War protestors
clashed with Chicago police outside the convention, while conservative and
progressive Democrats...

Presidential nominating conventions demonstrate critical intersections
among political parties, the mass media, and the public. Political
parties and the mass media are crucial instruments of democracy. Although
both have contributed to the decline of the deliberative nature of such gatherings,
the solution to the problem can be found at its source: there is strong
potential for parties...

CHAPTER TWELVE: The New Role of the Conventions as Political Rituals

The previous essays in this volume have analyzed the great influence
of the mass media on contemporary presidential nominations in the United
States. Incorporating these analyses, this concluding chapter argues that conventions
in the media age are now best understood as political rituals, different
from their historical heritage. Once decisive in the choice of party leadership,
conventions are now...

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